Speakout 4/3

Monday, April 3, 2006

Call 471-6636

I would like to ask where are the Highway Patrol? I travel to Sikeston to work from Benton on Hwy 61 and the speed limit is 60 mph from Morley to the city limits of Sikeston and on the road at 6:30 a.m. I set my cruise on 60 and I might as well be a snail. The speeding is awful and the tailgaiting as bad. I come back to Benton from Sikeston around noon. Leaving Sikeston is not so bad until you get to the last stoplight and then the race is on. People whip in and out of traffic and speed like crazy. It's very dangerous for the ones not speeding. Very seldom do I see a highway patrolman and if you do, after he passes, here they go again. The speed limit changes to 55 after you pass the Oran cut off and stays 55 all the way to Benton, and that's a joke, too. Oh, you can see Scott County deputies, but they are speeding, too. They always have no one drive the speed limit in town, 18 wheeler, cars, pickups. When you turn on 77 Hwy going east out of Benton below the hill, it's 45 up past Blodgett Road (Hwy H) and then turns into 55 again until you reach Kelly school zone. 77 Hwy is a Nascar Track and you can't blame all the speeding on the school kids, after all their parents taught them to drive. Monkey see, monkey do. Deputies, Sheriff, Highway Patrolmen, come to my house. Pull up a lawn chair and sit in my yard and just watch. Where are the road blocks and radar traps? I want to stay alive. If you're not going to enforce the speed limit, then take down the signs and let everyone pile up.

Bricks are creating problems for this country. On March 24, the above mentioned article exposed the City of Charleston for dumping bricks into a county ditch located within the city limits of Charleston. The article accurately indicated that the bricks have created a problem for county maintenance and created a tremendous "eyesore" within the city limits, however, your article missed the most disturbing part of the City's action(s) for local residents. The bricks in Lateral 1 of Ditch 14 are from the old historic firehouse in Charleston. This was a firehouse that served as city hall at one time and stood as a city cornerstone for more than a century of Charleston history. Many are outraged that any bricks would be disposed in such a manner by the city, but especially troubling is the fact that these bricks were promised to be incorporated into a city monument. The promise of a monument was part of the decision for not saving the old structure or at least many thought it was. It was difficult for city residents to see the Old Charleston Firehouse Number One torn down. However, it is appalling to see it lay in a ditch everytime one drives by on Main Street. What happened to your promise? Your actions have been disgraceful!